


A Winter Ruse

by Azurite



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Community: yuugiouxmasfic, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-12-01
Updated: 2005-12-01
Packaged: 2018-09-06 16:11:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8759998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azurite/pseuds/Azurite
Summary: What's worse: lying to a kid on Christmas, or having to turn that lie into truth (in a closet with Seto Kaiba, no less)? Seto x Anzu.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shoelace-tan](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Shoelace-tan).



> From "Socks."

Whoever said that dressing up in a skimpy red velvet outfit trimmed with fake white fur and standing in the middle of a sleet-and-snow covered street in the middle of a bustling holiday shopping day was fun had obviously never done it while standing in place for more than three hours wearing a pair of tightly-laced knee-high black boots.

Just the thought was enough to cause Anzu Mazaki to be short of breath, and she breathed in several times in quick succession, hoping to warm up. She continued to smile and jingle the little bell beside her collection tin though, hoping that at least a few people who were busy running around like chickens with their heads cut off would find it in their hearts to donate some of their spare shopping change for the Domino Orphanage.

This was just something Anzu did every year, because she was that kind of a person-- nice, caring, and with a severe lack of anything better to do. The truth was, she'd been working on the side for so long and saved up so much that she'd done her Christmas shopping *ages* ago... and so with nothing better to do while everyone else shopped, she decided to volunteer for those organizations that were less fortunate.

Alas, the crowds were constantly thick and bustling, while the air outside remained at a frigid below-freezing temperature. Still, Anzu stood, Anzu smiled, and Anzu rang her little bell, hoping that someone would come by and drop some money in the tin-- and maybe, if she got lucky, they'd talk to her to.

Whether it was the work of coincidence or some greater holiday powers at work, Anzu's wish was granted when a small voice among the crowd of bigger, taller, and more bundled-up called out her name.

"Anzu? What are you doing here?" Anzu turned to face the source of the voice, and was surprised to see none other than Mokuba Kaiba standing before her, his cheeks red from the cold and his hair thoroughly mussed from the wind. It had been a while since Anzu had last seen Mokuba; after they all returned from Egypt, actually. After that, they'd all gone back to school and tried to pretend that everything was the same.

The truth was, everything had changed, and would keep on changing-- and none of them had the power to stop it. They really were powerless teenagers in a vast, wide world, and it was a sad fact that they all had to accept, far too soon. Of course, Seto Kaiba didn't seem the least bit fazed by the Pharaoh's return to his "proper" place. He didn't even appear the least bit disoriented by the whole affair -the loss of the Millennium Items, and the disappearance of Ryou Bakura's decidedly darker side- and in fact, kept on living life as he had all the years previous: managing Kaiba Corporation, taking care of his brother, and gliding through his final year of classes as if it were nothing.

Anzu, though she'd long resigned herself to the fate of *not* being with the enigmatic Pharaoh's spirit that had once resided in her best friend's body, still smarted from the whole thing, and tried her best not to think about it by distracting herself with things like volunteering.

"I could ask you the same question," Anzu smiled widely, trying not to look like she was about to turn blue from frostbite. Unfortunately, her attempt was in vain, as she immediately began chattering the moment she closed her mouth.

Mokuba laughed cheerily and waved a variety of colorful bags at her. "I'm doing my Christmas shopping, of course!"

Anzu looked around to see if she could spot the awkwardly tall frame that was Seto Kaiba. After all, Mokuba was only 12, and in a busy holiday time, even the constantly-working Kaiba wouldn't leave his precious younger brother all alone, would he? Anzu answered the question in her own mind before she said a word aloud; Seto Kaiba wasn't like that at all. For all his attempts at appearing callous and uncaring, Anzu knew -perhaps better than anyone else- that Mokuba was the most precious person in his life, and that there was no way that work would ever come before the welfare of his only living relative.

Still, Seto Kaiba was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm here with Isono," Mokuba went on, gesturing to the suited man in sunglasses beside him. Anzu blinked and looked up at Isono, whom she hadn't seen since the Kaiba Corp. Grand Prix. She smiled lightly at him and said hello, while Isono nodded in that stiff "I'm working and am not supposed to socialize right now" way of his, though his cheeks did seem to brighten a little.

"But what's with the get up?" Mokuba asked, looking Anzu up and down. "It's... er, cute."  
Anzu gave a half-hearted laugh and plucked at the fur trim on her too-short skirt. As nice as she was to volunteer, she didn't realize that her kindness had strings attached; the costume was part of her job, and she couldn't "edit" it by adding a warm wool coat or her old knit scarf.

"I'm volunteering for the Domino Orphanage," Anzu explained. "People can drop off donations or new toys here, and later on, they get brought to the kids."

Mokuba's face seemed to light up, and after a minute, he started rummaging around in his bags and all his coat pockets.

"Hold this for me, willya Isono?" Mokuba said, and immediately thrust his handful of bags out to Isono, who was already juggling several of his own. Isono took the bags without question, and soon enough, Mokuba produced a wallet from one of his many coat pockets. He plucked the first bill that he found inside, rolled it up into a tight wad, and stuffed it down the tiny hole in the tin container Anzu used for collections.

Anzu's cerulean eyes went wide; Mokuba hadn't even batted an eye, and he'd just pushed a 10,000 yen note into the tin! That was more money than the collection tin had seen in days, maybe even months!

"Mokuba, that-- that was very generous of you," Anzu mumbled uncomfortably. A part of her reminded Anzu that if it weren't for the fact that they were acquainted -through their use as bait or pawns for the "bad guy of the hour"- then Mokuba, nice a kid as he was, probably wouldn't have even batted an eye at a bell-ringing volunteer on the side of the street. That and, Mokuba was a *Kaiba* through and through-- he didn't even blink when it came to giving his money out, though in this particular circumstance, Anzu could hardly accuse him of being frivolous.

"It's no problem Anzu!" Mokuba smiled brightly. "I'm from Domino Orphanage, remember? It's the least I can do to cheer up kids. I know what it's like to spend Christmas there, and it's no fun unless you have someone to play with."

Anzu smiled wanly at the young boy; he was making a not-so-subtle reference to his own brother, who had looked after Mokuba so carefully that he'd challenged Gozaburo Kaiba to a chess match, with their adoption at stake. And they'd won, and survived what had surely been an even tougher childhood than they could have imagined... but after Gozaburo Kaiba's death, they'd lived richly and comfortably, with the only care being Seto Kaiba's frequent bouts of what Anzu deemed clinical insanity.

But... he was different now, Anzu reminded herself. Out of everyone, she supposed Kaiba had changed the most since they all first met. Where he'd once been as nutty as a fruitcake (according to Anzu, anyway), now he was, well...

Dare she think it? Attractive! And not just in the physical sense, either. He did have his charms, or at least some "positive-like" traits. And his voice had that rather nice deep, almost husky tone to it-- not cracking like Yuugi's, thickly accented like Jounouchi's, or gruff like Honda's. But since when did she have time to notice things like Kaiba's voice? It wasn't as if he whispered sweet nothings into her ear...

Just the thought caused Anzu's cheeks to burn red.

"I wish I had something to give you," Anzu said almost robotically. She shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of the strange and traitorous thoughts she was suddenly having of Seto Kaiba, and to do so, she remembered the situation at hand.

"Like I said, it's no problem!" Mokuba smiled. "'Sides, I'm gonna give you a Christmas present anyway." He thumbed toward one of his bags. "That's why Seto didn't come with me today." He grinned toothily. "He hates shopping anyway, but I told him he couldn't come even if he wanted to, 'cause I bought his presents, plus everyone else's."

"Everyone... else's?" Anzu echoed, her eyes wide in surprise. Mokuba bought *her* something for Christmas? But... why?

"Yeah," Mokuba nodded slowly, looking at Anzu as if he was surprised she didn't understand. "You know, Yuugi, Jounouchi, Honda..."

Anzu's eyes widened with each name; all friends or acquaintances of hers.

"Now I really need to give you something," Anzu mumbled under her breath. "I don't want to sound rude, but I don't think anybody is expecting anything from you, Mokuba, and if I didn't give you a little something..." Anzu trailed off, her eyes darting off to the side. She spotted the crate of candy canes she had with her. She was supposed to give one out to everyone that donated something. Beneath the candy canes were little plastic ornaments with bows and golden balls hanging off them; these she was supposed to give to anyone that donated anything over 500 yen.

Mokuba had donated 10,000 yen!

"Here-" Anzu picked up a box of candy canes and a box of ornaments. "Take these. It's not really a gift from me so much as the orphanage, but... for all your generosity, Mokuba, I... really, thank you."

Mokuba blushed red all the way to the roots of his hair, accepting the proffered gifts in silence. He stared at them with the tiniest of smiles curving his lips before he looked up-- and that smile turned into a smirk that Anzu recognized all too well.

"Well, it isn't really my money, it's Seto's. So do you have a present for him, too?"

Somehow, Anzu knew Mokuba wasn't hoping for another box of candy or ornaments.

Anzu looked around furtively to see if she spotted anyone she knew; there was no one. She bent down to Mokuba's level and urged him to come closer. Mokuba, sure that Anzu was going to whisper something in his ear, turned and grinned.

"Give your brother this for me, okay?" Anzu whispered, and then she pressed a firm kiss to Mokuba's cheek, near the corner of his mouth. Mokuba scuttled away, his face beet-red, but that same dopey grin in place. He nodded after taking his bags back from Isono, and waved madly to Anzu as they departed down the street.

"Bye Anzu! I'll be sure to give it to him! Thanks!"

Luckily, Christmas Day that year fell on a Sunday, which meant no school for Mokuba, and no work for Seto. On top of that, the weather seemed to be getting colder and colder -better and better, in Mokuba's book. He treasured the rare weeks in the year when it snowed badly enough to warrant going outside and making snowmen, snow angels, or if he could cajole Seto into going outside, getting into a snowball fight.

Mokuba was thrilled with all of his presents, and he hoped that everyone who'd be receiving *his* gifts today (by special courier) would enjoy them as much as he did. Before Seto had given the mansion staff off for the holidays and New Year, they'd cooked up enough food to feed twenty Mokubas and Setos, including a batch of delicious spritz cookies with festive chocolate candies in the center. Mokuba was busy devouring one when he suddenly remembered the gift he'd yet neglected to give to Seto.

The ebony-haired boy couldn't help but grin as he wiped his mouth off on his sleeve and he rose from the pile of discarded wrapping paper and boxes and headed toward his brother's office. It was no secret that Seto was already up and awake --and probably working, even though Christmas was one of those few days of the year when he didn't have to. But at least that meant Mokuba wouldn't feel guilty about waking his brother up by pouncing on the bed.

Mokuba was right outside the office door when he remembered why he was there-- to give Seto the "present" from Anzu. It wouldn't be any fun if he couldn't tease his brother, just a little... so Mokuba scuttled back to the living area and grabbed a candy cane, stealthily hiding it behind his back as he knocked on the door.

His brother grunted -or perhaps mumbled something under his breath- to signal his allowance for Mokuba's entrance; he didn't even look up as his younger brother bounded toward him.

"Thanks for all the great presents, bro! You liked yours, right?"

Seto glanced up at Mokuba with tired, dull blue eyes. "I actually haven't gotten the chance to open them yet..." Mokuba never bothered to put Seto's presents under the tree; he would never go there to open them. His office was his second bedroom, and it was the place Seto could be found most often-- when he wasn't at school, the Kaiba Corp. offices, or asleep in his bed. Thus, there was a pile of still-wrapped gifts piling up on the corner of Seto's desk.

"Oh. Well, you can open them whenever. But I have another present for you."

Seto glanced at his brother, a bit surprised. "But you already got me--"

"Not from me," Mokuba interrupted cheerily, still keeping the candy cane hidden behind him. "From Anzu."

Seto's eyes widened a few centimeters, but he didn't say anything.

Mokuba cleared his throat. "You gotta lean forward."

Seto's expression abruptly turned confused, but he was either too tired or too trusting of his younger brother to think twice about it. Mokuba seized the opportunity and repeated exactly the same thing Anzu had done to him the other day-- he kissed his brother smack on the cheek, only a few centimeters from his brother's lips.

It wasn't often that the Kaiba brothers exchanged signs of affection; mostly hugs, if anything. Still, the gesture was far from awkward coming from Mokuba... except that it wasn't "from Mokuba" -- it was from Anzu.

Mokuba laughed wildly when he saw his brother's cheeks turn red, his gaze fixed to some distant point in space. Quite obviously, he was thinking of what Mokuba had said --"a present from Anzu"-- before he'd been kissed.

The ebony-haired boy tore out of the office as though the hounds of hell were after him, laughing all the while.  


The next day was a school day, so there was no way Kaiba could avoid seeing Anzu, not unless he came up with a really good excuse to miss school. Unfortunately, the best excuse came to mind only after he'd already arrived at school.

To make matters worse, the world had used his excuse-- there was far too much snow outside and... BAM! Suddenly, Domino High was snowed in, and the electricity had gone out. For safety, the administration had decided to cancel classes for the day, but to lock all the students in. There was just too much of a risk letting students go home when the school was surrounded by over a meter of snow.

Everyone but Seto Kaiba seemed to be taking this horrible news as something wonderful -like being stuck in high school for an undefined number of hours was some sort of grand adventure.

Far from it, in fact. This whole charade made it that much harder to avoid Anzu...

And in fact, the moment Kaiba dared to think about her, a slender shadow fell over his desk. When Kaiba looked up, the object of his thoughts --none other than Anzu Mazaki herself-- was standing before him. Fortunately or unfortunately, her own face mirrored Kaiba's as it had looked the day before --after Mokuba had delivered "Anzu's present." She was blushing, and she looked more than a little bit nervous to be standing there... but it obviously wasn't stopping her.

"Uh... Kaiba, I was just wondering if... Mokuba gave you that present from me..."

Kaiba's eyebrows shot up; he hadn't expected her to mention it, let alone in front of all their classmates. Still, everyone seemed so excited by the prospect of being snowed in at school that they didn't seem to be paying much attention to Anzu. Even Yuugi, Jounouchi, and Honda were off in their own world.

A smirk crossed his lips before he could really stop it. The thought occurred to him: he really could milk this for all it was worth. He could make Anzu squirm, and just maybe...

"I don't recall any present. You have something for me, Mazaki?"

Anzu immediately turned a brilliant shade of red, her eyes widening to the size of saucers. "Oh! Er... I guess he forgot or something."

'Think, Anzu, think!' Anzu told herself, squeezing her eyes shut for a minute. She didn't even know why she was here, in front of Kaiba's desk, asking him if Mokuba had kissed him --as a "present" from her! How silly... but maybe there was more to her desire to find out than the simple need to pay Kaiba back for his generosity.

Maybe it was because she was stuck in the school with him, and there was the chance of actually spending time with him, of learning more about him. Maybe it was because her traitorous thoughts from before had returned, and she couldn't help but think that Seto Kaiba really was quite attractive, and he didn't deserve to spend their snow day all alone.

"Uh... well, there is something..." Anzu fumbled for a quick excuse, but she wasn't exactly known for thinking on her feet --at least, not in situations like these! "In my locker!" Anzu said at last. "We can go and get it together."

Kaiba could have easily poked a hole in Anzu's excuse right there --and he knew it was an excuse, through and through-- by telling her to go and get it and bring it back to him. But he settled for acting pleasantly surprised and following Anzu out of the classroom. No one noticed them leave.

The electricity was out, but luckily, the heat was not, so few people lingered in the cold areas where the lockers were kept. Anzu chuckled nervously as they neared the bank of cubbies, and Anzu unlocked hers and started to fumble around in it for a present that wasn't there. Kaiba waited impatiently, wondering why Mazaki was going to all the trouble of acting in this charade when there was no one around. But judging by the way she kept on mumbling to herself and glancing none-too-discreetly out of the corner of her eye, she was having second thoughts about actually giving Kaiba the gift he knew she "had" for him.

Anzu plucked what looked like a decidedly empty duffle bag from her locker and slammed the door shut. She locked it hastily and tugged on Kaiba's wrist, urging him away from the main hallway and down the side hallways that led to the various administrative offices. Since the teachers were so busy trying to figure out what to do with an entire school of students trapped after hours, most of them remained in the classrooms or the auditorium, where the dean was busy trying to figure out what to do should the blizzard continue past evening.

Slight annoyance was quickly giving way to full-on irritation, what with Anzu kept dodging what Kaiba saw as inevitable. This Anzu was NOT the one that Kaiba had imagined -even for a fraction of a second- as desirable. What had happened to her take-no-prisoners, spitfire attitude? What was with this nervous, edgy girl who kept tugging him away from the warmth of the rest of the school? Perhaps she didn't intend to kiss him at all. Perhaps it had all been a prank of Mokuba's.

But...

"Mazaki, what is the point of you leading me around like this? What exactly is this 'present' you were talking about?" Anzu stopped walking, her back still to Kaiba. Unbeknownst to Kaiba, she swallowed a lump in her throat before turning around. Whether it was the cold or this whole situation, her cheeks were flushed a rosy red, but the smile on her lips was trembling.

She glanced off to the side and realized they stood in front of one of the supply closets, filled with all number of things that the teachers tended to run out of-- staples, pencils, paper, chalk... Anzu jiggled the doorknob and then bounced inside, only sticking her head out once to call Kaiba inside.

He favored Anzu with an unamused stare, and he crossed his arms over his chest in impatience. This area of the school wasn't that warm, and if the window on the far side of the small room was any indication, the blizzard was only worsening. If Anzu was just going to play games with him, then he had better things to do and places to be.

"Uh, well, I didn't want to cause trouble for you by giving it to you in front of everyone else," Anzu explained sheepishly. "I think I have an extra in here somewhere, let me look for it..." And Anzu proceeded to make a big show out of looking through her empty duffle bag. Kaiba, still bored with this whole affair, absently looked out the window, his gaze averted from Anzu as he watched the snow fall.

Anzu seemed to think he was transfixed by the snow, and decided to stop digging through her empty bag and give Kaiba the present she'd intended for him all along. Who knew whether Mokuba had really forgotten or if he'd had something else in mind, but Anzu knew that it wouldn't mean anything if she couldn't act here and now.

She really wanted to do this, right...?

Still, her heart was pounding in her chest, her hands kept trembling, and her skin felt so hot and clammy...

Anzu swallowed and stood up on her toes, moving to kiss Kaiba on the cheek the same way she'd done for Mokuba.

Except everything went completely out the window when Kaiba --who'd been well aware that Anzu was coming closer to him, with no tangible "present" in hand or in sight-- turned and captured Anzu's seeking lips with his own. Anzu's eyes opened and widened momentarily, but as Kaiba's lips moved against hers, she decided that this change of plans wasn't an entirely bad idea.

All the cold of this side of the building, all the clamminess and trembling her body had been experiencing only second ago seemed to fade and disappear, but the warmth steadily grew into a heat that started to burn. Somewhere between Kaiba turning to kiss her --*her!* The thought was still boggling-- and them stumbling backward against a spare desk, his arms had gone around her body and hers around his, and that tiny fraction of a space between them was closed completely.

At some point, Kaiba's rather inexpert form of kissing had suddenly become dangerously exciting and arousing, and he dared to push his tongue against her lips. She relinquished rather easily --too easily, for Kaiba's tastes-- but the overwhelmingly sweet taste of her mouth --candy cane?-- combined with the surprise force of her own tongue in his mouth changed things.

It was far from being a simple charade or a strange game that they were playing anymore, so when they finally parted, their breaths coming out in small white puffs and their faces flushed, it was no surprise that Anzu's voice trembled when she at last spoke.

"So now what?"

Kaiba regarded her for a minute, rather liking the disheveled mess Anzu made after she'd been thoroughly (but not completely) ravished.

"So now we see how much you can stand being in the spotlight."

Anzu swallowed again and licked her lips, well aware of how Kaiba's eyes were following her every movement. Part of her was hollering that she'd just gone and done a very stupid thing by kissing Kaiba, but the sensible side of her reminded her that he'd started it...! And wasn't how it always was between them --some sort of battle, or an unspoken war of wits? Only now, it had gotten a little physical, and it certainly didn't feel simple anymore.

"What do you mean?"

"Can you stand getting grilled by your friends about this? Could you stand being splashed on the front cover of tabloids just for being seen with me?"

Anzu's eyes widened. She knew she could just walk out of this room and pretend that nothing had happened; there was no reason to tell her friends, unless... unless she wanted something more out of this. Unless she wanted a repeat performance \--and her body certainly did, if the aching and warmth circling their way through her veins was any indication.

"A-Are you asking me out, S... Kaiba?"

She'd almost called him Seto, and abruptly worried that he wouldn't like it that much-- especially if she was wrong about this 'asking out' thing. But a part of her was fervently praying that she was right.

"Isn't that obvious?" Kaiba responded in that no-nonsense way of his. Anzu's expression must have been shell-shocked, for she couldn't seem to find the willpower to move or say a word. Kaiba took his chance and kissed Anzu again.. and again... and again...


End file.
